All right guys, the plot is beginning to form. Hang on tight boys and girls, there'll be plenty of angst and some action, and a tiny bit of romance. Okay, more than a tiny bit. I couldn't help myself. I'm sorry. The actual plot won't begin in this chapter, but I'm in the process of writing the next one. It's going to be a long one, and it will take a while, but trust me, it'll be worth it.
Falling Star: * sobs * You're such a wonderful reviewer!! * gives you a huge bag full of cookies * Enjoy! ^_^
Ka-Dalun: Thank you! I'll spare you this time, but keep reviewing, kay?
As for the rest of you who didn't review (and I know there's more of you): why the heck not?! * grabs and shakes the non-reviewers * Review, darn you!
Chapter 8: Orphan's Parent Teacher Conference
"Look Vegeta, I don't want you to go either, but I have to go to this meeting! It won't kill you to just bring her there, grunt, then leave! It's not like I'm asking you to blow yourself up or anything!"
"Why the hell does the brat have to go back to that damned school? She was just there and hour ago! And just cancel your stupid meeting!"
Kris growled irritably as he listened to Bulma and Vegeta argue from her spot on the couch. She rather agreed with Vegeta (surprise surprise). Why should she go back to school? It didn't make sense!
"FINE! Just stop your damned screeching woman!"
Kris sighed in defeat and waited for her uncle to storm into the living room, pull her from the couch, and drag her back to that hell-hole they called an educational institution. And, true to her predictions, that's exactly what he did.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
"Hiya Kris!"
"Yo Vegeta! What're you doing here?"
Vegeta's eye twitched in irritation when he spotted his rival waving cheerfully from across the playground outside the building.
"What the hell do you think I'm doing here Kakkarot?" he snapped.
"I dunno. Chichi just told me to take Ranu back to the school and behave myself," he replied. After a few moments of silence, he spoke again.
"Hey, Vegeta?"
"What."
"Um… why are we here?"
A large 'sweat drop of disbelief' rolled down Vegeta's head.
"For a 'parent-teacher conference', you moron."
"Oh."
Kris kicked at a stray rock.
"Vegeta?"
"What?"
"Geez, calm down! I just wanted to ask what a 'parent-teacher conference' is."
There was a long moment of silence before Vegeta could think of a convincing and in-character response.
"Shut up Kakkarot."
"But-"
"I said shut up."
"…"
"…"
"You don't know either, do you?"
"I thought I told you to shut your oversized, baka third-class mouth!"
"Excuse me," a voice interrupted.
"Is there a problem here?"
Vegeta turned around to face the person who had dared interrupt. The person was a middle-aged, balding guy in a very stiff business suit. The very stereotype of a school principal. Which, as a mater of fact, he was.
Before Vegeta could show him what the problem was and rip out the poor human's stomach, Goku stepped forward.
"Nope, no problem here!" he said. The principal gave both a strange look.
"Are you here for the parent teacher conference?" he asked.
"Yep!" Goku replied.
Vegeta just snorted.
"Then I assume you to be Mr. Briefs and Mr. Son?"
"Right again!" Goku confirmed cheerily. He held out his hand for the principal to shake.
"My name's Son Goku. Pleased to meet you!"
The principal shook his hand (and checked to make sure none of the bones in his hand were broken afterwards), then turned to Vegeta, expecting another handshake. Vegeta glared at him and made a face that clearly said he'd rather let Kakkarot win a fight.
Slightly taken aback, the principal straightened his tie nervously.
"Well then, shall we go inside?"
He didn't wait for an answer, just turned around and led the four remaining full-blooded Saiyans into the school. That poor man…
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
"Now, let's get started," the principal stated, sitting down in a chair next to the school's counselor, another stereotypical person. She had a small body frame, wore glasses, had black hair tied up in a tight bun and brown eyes, and smiled gently at all four of them.
"As you know from the letter we sent home, both of your children were caught fighting yesterday during recess. We're all here to find out what the source of the problem is and-"
"Who won?" Vegeta interrupted.
"W-what?"
Who won the fight?"
The principal fidgeted with his tie again and cleared his throat.
"Well, um, sir, it doesn't really matter who won, but I believe the two were separated before any 'winning' could be done,"
Both Kris and Vegeta snorted in disgust. Vegeta leaned back in the chair. The counselor leaned forward.
"Did you…" she said softly. "want your child to win?"
Vegeta gave her a look that clearly asked if she had lost her mind.
"Of course," he answered. Did she think he wanted her to lose? What was wrong with this woman?
The counselor put on her most friendly expression and turned to the principal.
"I think I can handle it from here sir," she said. He nodded, got up, and left.
"Now," she began, turning back to Vegeta. "Why do you want her to win? Are you afraid that if she lost, people would think less of you as a father?"
"What the hell?!" he bellowed. Kris cringed, Ranu glanced warily at him and Goku was preparing to physically restrain the angry Vegeta from blowing things up. The counselor didn't bat an eye, just continued smiling sweetly.
"Do you get angry like this often? How about you, little Kris? Do you ever feel… angry? Like you could hit someone?" she asked in an eerie tone.
Kris squirmed uncomfortably. She tried to think of the right answer. 2 times 2 was… no, that wasn't the question… but where were the flashcards? Dr. Toshika had always used flashcards for her. Kris stayed silent. Vegeta grabbed her hand and abruptly dragged her to the door.
"Come one brat. I don't care how much the woman yells, I'm not staying here any longer," he said. And, just like that, both of them walked out the door and left.
Ranu glanced over at the counselor to see her reaction. She sighed in regret, but turned her gaze away from the closed door to Ranu and smiled again. He suddenly had the urge to run out the door after Kris and never come back. Heck, the woman was even beginning to freak Goku out!
"Well, that was unfortunate," she began. "But we'll find the root of this aggression yet!"
Both remaining Saiyans sweat-dropped.
"Now, you are Ranu's father, correct?"
"Not exactly…"
"Then you're his stepfather! Well well, that must be the problem then!"
"But I'm not-"
However, before Goku could explain, the counselor had already turned to Ranu and was ignoring Goku.
"Ranu?" she said softly. Ranu fidgeted and glanced around as if looking for an escape route.
"Is that it? Is that why you fight?" she asked softly. "Because you're angry that your daddy left?"
Ranu blinked, confused. He fought because it was fun. Because he wanted to get stronger. And how could he be angry at someone he had never met? It just didn't make sense and he was getting more and more confused and uncomfortable under the intent gaze of the counselor. He looked at Goku for some hint as to how he should respond, but the counselor caught the look.
"Oh, don't worry! I'm sure he won't be angry with you for talking about your biological father, will you Mr. Son?"
"Uh…" Goku wasn't sure how to respond to that. This was getting strange fast, and neither of them wanted to be there, being interrogated by such a cheerful… interrogator.
"Um, look, we kind of have to leave now," Goku said and stood up to go. The counselor sighed.
"Very well," she conceded. "But…" she paused and gave both a look that would have scared the evil out of the King of Demons. Ranu squeaked and hid behind Goku's leg.
"I trust that there will be no more fighting. Understood?"
"Both nodded meekly. She smiled sweetly again.
"Gook! You may leave now."
They ran out the door and out of the school. They stopped in the playground. Ranu breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up at Goku.
"Uncle?" he asked. Goku looked down at him.
"What is it?"
"Can we go home now? The scary lady might come out after us."
Goku chuckled and picked Ranu up and set him on his shoulders. Ranu grinned in delight and grabbed onto a couple spikes of Goku's hair for added security as he took off from the school. Normally Goku would have used the Instantaneous Movement to get home, but he knew that Ranu liked it when he was sort-of flying. Not under his own power, but still… They flew in silence, save from the wind rushing past them.
"Uncle?" Ranu asked over the wind.
"What?"
"Can you teach me how to fly?"
Goku thought for a moment before responding.
"Maybe when you're older. I don't think you have enough ki yet."
Ranu pouted a little at that. He thought he was old enough. The pout instantly disappeared as another question popped into his mind.
"Uncle?"
"Yeah?"
"That scary lady back there… what did she mean when she asked me if I was angry about my daddy leaving?"
They were at the Son household by then. Goku landed lightly in front of the door. He didn't know how to answer that question.
"I'm not sure," he said finally. "How about you ask Chichi? I'm sure she'll know."
Ranu seemed happy with that answer, and they walked into the house. Gradually, as the day went on, he forgot all about asking the question, and Goku wasn't about to bring it up again. Ranu wouldn't remember again until the weekend when Kris slept over.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
It was after dinner on Saturday and Kris and Ranu were sparring outside the house. After a few rounds of fighting (with Kris winning most of the time) they both took a break and leaned against a tree, drinking a bottle of water and munching on some nutrition bars while they caught their breath.
Kris turned to Ranu to gloat some more about her victory. She opened her mouth… and closed it again. Ranu was staring up at the sky, a half-eaten nutrition bar lying in his hand, forgotten. Kris stared at him, but he didn't notice.
'He looks so sad…' Kris thought, looking at his face.
'Should I say something?' she wondered. 'He looks like he's going to cry. He's never cried before. At least I think he hasn't. I don't want him to cry!'
"Kris?"
She jumped in surprise but recovered quickly.
"What?"
He was still looking at the sky.
"You said once you remembered your mommy and daddy," he said. Kris recalled saying that during one of their previous sleepovers. She considered arguing about remembering her father as she only fuzzily recalled him, but decided against it.
"Yeah?" she replied. What was he getting at?
He turned his head away from the sky overhead and faced Kris. She inhaled sharply at the look in his eyes and felt her heart almost stop. He really was about to cry! She had never seen him cry about anything, though he had seen her cry once or twice. It just felt wrong to see him so sad. He was normally so happy, no matter what.
"I don't remember them," he said.
"Remember who?" Kris asked. Ranu bit his lip slightly and looked at the ground.
"My parents," he whispered. Before Kris could respond, he continued.
"I know I would miss them a lot if I could remember, but I can't, and I think maybe that's worse. I know you miss your mom and dad a lot, but I can't even remember what mine were like! What if they hated me, and that's why they sent me away?"
He was in tears now and his voice cracked with more unshed. He turned his head away.
"What if… what if…" he couldn't even continue anymore, just let the tears fall and restrained the sobs that were threatening to overcome him as best he could.
He suddenly felt a pair of arms encircle his torso and pull him. He looked up, bewildered, and saw Kris pulling him into a hug. He let her and once she started shushing him and telling it was all right he laid his head on her shoulder and allowed the hiccupping sobs to escape from his throat.
Kris rubbed Ranu's back comfortingly, like she had seen Bulma do for Bra when one of her favorite toys broke and she was crying. Her mind raced, desperately trying to think of something to quiet Ranu's sobbing. She couldn't stand seeing him so sad! She closed her eyes and thought hard.
* * Flashback * *
She had her head buried into a pillow to muffle the sobs that erupted from her throat and made it feel raw. She was shaking and sweating from the aftershock of the visions that haunted her mind at night. She shook her head, as if trying to shake the bad dreams out of her head, and screamed into her pillow.
"Dammit brat, do you ever not cry at night?"
Kris gasped and looked up from the fabric of her pillow. Vegeta stepped into the room, arms crossed and frowning. She turned back to the soaked pillow in shame at being caught crying again. She bit her lip, angry with herself for being so weak, especially in front of her uncle.
She felt the bed shift and cautiously looked up again. Vegeta was sitting at the edge of the bed, watching her. She glanced back at the pillow. She heard Vegeta exhale in something resembling a sigh and looked up once again, surprised, when two hands grabbed her around the middle and lifted her up, shortly afterwards depositing her in her uncle's lap and holding her there.
Kris looked up at Vegeta's face for some clue as to what was going on. She got not clue at all.
"Go back to sleep." Vegeta commanded.
"But-" she whimpered.
Vegeta growled and Kris bowed her head. It was an unspoken language between the two. The growl was a warning and a reminder that he could force her to go to sleep if he wished to, and Kris's reply was that she was sorry and would not be rebellious. It was a simple form of communication, but it worked well enough for their purposes.
"Look brat," Vegeta said after a few moments of silence. "I'll help you get back to sleep. But only for tonight. Understand? I won't ever do this again, and you are not to speak of this to anyone."
Kris blinked in confusion but nodded anyway. She closed her eyes and curled up as best she could with Vegeta still holding on to her, trying to comply to her uncle's command to go back to sleep. However, her eyes shot back open when she heard a familiar song in an entirely different voice.
She glanced upwards and saw something that she probably wouldn't ever see again. Her uncle, who hardly spoke an affectionate word to anyone (as far as she knew), was singing! She blinked a few times in shock, then suddenly grinned and shut her eyes again.
She felt special. Of course, she didn't know that he had done the same thing for Bra, and even Trunks when he was younger. The song was always Saiyan in origin, because he really didn't know any others, and just barely remembered the one lullaby. Coincidentally, it was the same song Kris's mother had sung to her all the time. Slowly, the song did what it was meant to do and Kris fell asleep.
* * End Flashback * *
Kris opened her eyes again. Ranu was hugging her back now, and his crying had dwindled down to an occasional hiccup. Kris bit her lip nervously, gathered up her courage, took a deep breath, and started singing. It was the same song of course. It was the only one she knew, and it worked anyway. Besides, she thought it would help soothe Ranu.
He sniffled and leaned against her, listening to the song. His eyelids got heavier and slowly shut. He vaguely felt his consciousness slip into oblivion and fell asleep. All that crying had taken a lot out of him, and after all, his energy level had already been low from sparring.
Kris stopped singing when she felt Ranu fall asleep. Now that she thought about it, she was feeling a bit tired too… maybe she had eaten too much during dinner… her head fell onto Ranu's shoulder and she joined him in sleep.
~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~ . ~
Click. Whhrrrrrr…..
Click. Whhhrrrrr….
"Chichi? What are doing with the camera?"
"Shh! You're going to wake them up!"
Goku peered over his wife's shoulder to see what she was photographing.
"Um… Chi?" he whispered, mindful of the warning not to wake the sleepers.
"Hm?"
Click. Whhhrrrrr…
"Why are you taking pictures of Kris and Ranu sleeping?"
She lowered the camera from her face, and Goku could see that she had shiny yellow stars in her eyes. He recognized that look and backed away a little bit, just to be sure…
"Just look at them! They're adorable! Their children will be so cute it'll rot the teeth out of you mouth just looking at them, I'm sure! After they're married, or course…" She lifted the camera back up and kept clicking pictures.
"Don't you think they're a little young still? I mean, they are only five,"
She whirled around to face him and lowered the camera again.
"It's never too early to plan for a wedding. Besides, you agreed to marry me when you were only ten."
"But back then I thought a wedding was food…"
"Oh? So you're saying I tricked you into marrying me?"
"N-no, I didn't say that at all Chi!"
"Then what were you saying?"
"Um… nothing?"
Chichi nodded once in agreement and kept taking pictures, already planning on putting said photographs on the wedding invitations. After all, it was never too early to start planning.
Ha! Another chapter typed up! Alrighty now, here's my plans for the next month:
I'm redoing the first chapter to make it all pretty and everything. I'll probably go back and fix various things in other chapters too. I'm writing the next chapter! I've started on it, and all I'm going to tell you is this: the plot starts here (what semblance of a plot it is) and both of the kawaii little Saiyans are gonna be in high school. Mwahahahahahahaha!! Let the hormones rage!